The honor of your presence is requested at the
Holy Apostles Scholarship Dinner
To benefit the Seminarian Scholarship Fund
Saturday, October 26, 2024 | 5:30 pm
Reception and Dinner at the
TPC River Highlands
1 Golf Club Road, Cromwell, CT
The Holy Apostles Leadership Award will be presented to Fr. Ray Introvigne ’60.
The recent National Eucharistic Congress, held in Indianapolis in July, drew more than 50,000 attendees and featured alumni speakers from Holy Apostles College & Seminary, including well-known Catholic apologist Trent Horn.
Trent serves as a staff apologist for the popular media ministry Catholic Answers. He specializes in “teaching Catholics to graciously and persuasively engage those who disagree with them.” He also hosts his podcast, The Counsel of Trent.
At the National Eucharistic Congress, Trent spoke on one of his favorite subjects—the Eucharist—and provided arguments against attacks on the Eucharist, disproving claims that it is merely symbolic.
In his presentation, Trent also demonstrated that only the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist can explain why the sacrifice of the Mass is a fitting offering for God, as it truly is God the Son being presented to the Father as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Trent earned a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Holy Apostles in 2018 and served as an adjunct professor at the college. He has authored or co-authored over a dozen books, including The Case for Catholicism, Persuasive Pro-life, and Why We’re Catholic: Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, and Love.
“My time at Holy Apostles gave me access to abundant resources that I still use in my podcasts and books to defend the Catholic faith. It also helped me understand new and exciting areas of thought in various fields of Catholic philosophy. Both philosophy and critical thinking are crucial to my defense of the faith, so I wanted to grow in that field and become a better apologist. I chose Holy Apostles because of its fidelity to Church teaching and the college’s flexible format, which served someone like me who is married and works full-time,” said Trent.
According to Catholic speaker, author, and alumnus Matt Fradd ’15, MA ’18, “Trent Horn is a gifted Catholic apologist as well as a compelling speaker. He presents Catholicism in an intelligent, careful, and winsome manner, providing his listeners with a model of how an ambassador of the Church ought to offer an account of our faith in public.”
Trent is a convert to Catholicism. His father was Jewish, and his mother a Protestant (formerly Catholic). He was not religious in his youth but was also not an atheist having more questions than answers at the time.
During his sophomore year of high school, he attended an outing hosted by a Catholic youth group and was later invited to the Holy Mass. This began a deeper dive into the Christian faith and his study of religion. Trent eventually realized that the Catholic faith “really is biblical,” and entered the Church at age 17.
Later, he served in the high school youth group, evangelized on various college campuses, gave talks at pro-life events and parishes, and worked for the Diocese of Phoenix. All of this prepared him for his 2012 position at Catholic Answers.
“Holy Apostles’ commitment to affordability, faithfulness, and flexibility has allowed us to form effective evangelists like Trent Horn in all walks of life. I highly recommend reading his books, especially Why We’re Catholic: Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, and Love,” said President-Rector Fr. Peter Kucer.
Holy Apostles College and Seminary holyapostles.edu is a NECHE and ATS accredited college with a mission of preparing and educating seminarians, consecrated and lay students for the New Evangelization through undergraduate and graduate programs. Students have access to faithfully Catholic, truly affordable, and fully online programs as well as residential religious programs in historic Cromwell, Connecticut. As a pioneer in online learning, Holy Apostles is one of the first theological schools to offer 100% online graduate programs. Alumni and faculty of the institution include internationally recognized leaders and experts in apologetics, philosophy, and theology.
Dear Holy Apostles Community,
“Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” (2 Timothy 1:2 RSVCE)
As we begin the fall semester, I extend my greetings and blessings in the Lord Jesus to you all.
Currently, our campus is being filled with life as our seminarians, student priests, sisters and on-campus commuter students return. I welcome our many students who are joining us online and are part of a robust international community.
I would like to note the appointment of two important administrators Dr. Kristina Olsen Ph.D. as the Vice-President of Academic Affairs and Dr. John O’Neill as the B.A. Theology program coordinator. Dr. O’Neill will also serve as an Assistant Professor of Theology.
Our fall semester and new academic year began on Monday, August 26 with the celebration of Holy Mass at 11:30 a.m. It was followed by the Opening Convocation Ceremony for the 2024-25 academic year. It included the official installation of Dr. Olsen in her new role as Vice-President of Academic Affairs and also the faculty taking the Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity.
Left to Right: Very Rev. Peter S. Kucer, MSA (President-Rector), Very Rev. Martin Rooney, MSA (Chancellor), and Dr. Kristina Olsen (Vice President of Academic Affairs)
We look forward to on-campus retreats and online webinars this year including some that are outlined in this newsletter along with our first HACS Scholarship Dinner being held on October 26 in Cromwell, CT.
Please reach out to Cristi Shaw at cshaw@holyapostles.edu with any suggestions and feedback as we work to make the year ahead fulfilling and engaging for our community.
United in the Lord Jesus,
Father Peter Kucer, MSA STD
President-Rector
Please join us for a powerful Healing Retreat on Saturday, October 5, 2024, from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm.
Open to all, this dynamic retreat is a special opportunity for spiritual renewal and healing.
9:00 AM Mass celebrated by Fr. Dermot Roache, S.M.A.
10:00 AM First Session with Kathleen McCarthy
11:15 AM Second Session with Fr. Dermot Roache, S.M.A.
12:15 PM Lunch
1:15 PM Adoration and Confession
2:00 PM Eucharistic Healing Service with Prophetic Words with Kathleen McCarthy
3:00 PM Closing
Cost: $35 including lunch
Healing Retreat Invitation (Click to Download)
Participant Registration (Click to Register)
Participant Registration + Fr. Roache’s Book (Click to Register)
For further information, please email Cristi Shaw at cshaw@holyapostles.edu or call 860-632-3017. We are located at 33 Prospect Hill Road, Cromwell, CT 06416
*Please be advised that, in light of the provision of canon 903 CIC and canon 703 CCEO, all priests who wish to celebrate or concelebrate Mass at Holy Apostles College and Seminary are required to present a celebret or Testimonial of Suitability from their Ordinary or Religious Superior. We ask that priests bring their own alb.
Fr. Dermot Roache, S.M.A.Fr. Dermot Roache, S.M.A. is a native New Yorker and has served as a missionary priest with the S.M.A. Fathers in rural parts of Africa as well as in US urban parish settings in Jersey City and Boston. He is currently the vice-provincial of the American Province of the S.M.A. Fathers located in Tenafly, New Jersey.
Fr. Roache directs retreats and missions in many dioceses around the US for both laity and religious. He has a deep love for Our Lady and the Eucharist. Through an experience Fr. Roache had in South Africa, a special apostolate was founded. Family Divine Mercy is dedicated to the healing of the family through The Divine Mercy. It is most associated with a particular prayer he authored called, “Act of Consecration of the Family to the Divine Mercy.” Fr. Roache recently published a book of Marian reflections entitled, I am the Virgin Mother of God and Your Mother Too.
Kathleen McCarthyKathleen McCarthy is President of In His Sign Catholic Radio Network, a Retreat Director, and Published Author. Her current books are titled In The Silence of My Heart (Volumes 1-10). These writings, spanning over ten years of prophetic locutions, have received the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat of the Catholic Church. Kathleen is also a world-renowned Catholic Evangelist and has led a healing Apostolate for over four decades. Her message is focused on the “Fire of the Holy Spirit” and the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. Kathleen has dynamic gifts of Preaching, Teaching, Healing, and of bringing the Sacred Scriptures to life through her story-telling. Kathleen has been hosting a daily radio show for close to two decades which can be seen live on Facebook as well. She has been deeply involved in healing ministry and has led numerous retreats.
Holy Apostles College and Seminary alumni are valuable members of a lifelong community and global network. We hear many stories about how the education they received at Holy Apostles helped to support their work in Catholic ministry.
We are proud of our alumni for living the mission of Holy Apostles in evangelization as “co-workers in the vineyard” whether clergy, laity, or religious.
Many of our alumni are doing exceptional work for the church and some have reached national and international recognition. Recently we posted an impressive list of these recognized leaders here.
We thank all alumni for your role as important ambassadors for the college and seminary and trailblazers for the faith.
Holy Apostles looks forward to increasing our programs and offerings for our alumni community. Please stay in touch and let us know the good work you are doing!
